The Hawks unleash one of the epic collapses in Atlanta annals
Here's one picture. It's worth several hundred million words. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
This was the Falcons blowing the lead against Danny White and Dallas in January 1981. This was Mark Wohlers hanging the slider to Jim Leyritz in October 1996. Only it wasn’t. It was worse.
Those opponents were top-class. The Hawks just blew a 13-point lead and probably a playoff series to Milwaukee, which is a No. 6 seed missing its All-Star center. They trail 3-2 in a series they led 2-0. They face elimination on the road, a place they’ve won once in 11 tries over the past three postseasons.
Yeah, theoretically they could still pull this out, but how can you win in the Bradley Center when you can’t hold a nine-point lead inside the final four minutes with the series lead on the line? How can you put this colossal choke — I hate that word, but it applies here — behind you?
Up nine, and here’s what happened: Josh Smith missed a dunk by hitting the ball on the underside of the backboard; Jamal Crawford short-armed a layup, the first of his five misses down the stretch; the Hawks watched as Ersan Ilyasova grabbed every loose ball and Joe Johnson fouled out on a charge. Nine points up with 3:55 left, the Hawks saw the lead disappear in 116 seconds.
I say again: One hundred sixteen seconds.
There are no excuses for this game, this series. The team with the better players is the one with one foot out the exit door. The Bucks have two chances to win once. The Hawks are down to their final shot.
“We had control of the game,” Mike Woodson said. “We let it get away.”
Then this: “It’s still a seven-game series. We’re going to see what we’re made of.”
We may already have seen it. We may have seen a team of splendid resources hit its ceiling. The Hawks win because they’re talented, but talent hasn’t been enough against a smarter and more dogged opponent. If anything, talent has undone itself. The Hawks have played into the Bucks’ hands for three games now, and there seems no end in sight. The Bucks are now believers; the Hawks really aren’t sure what they are anymore.
“All winning basketball plays,” Woodson said of the two offensive rebounds claimed by Ilyasova that spawned five immense points, the final three coming on a corner trey by Carlos Delfino that put the Bucks ahead by four. But why can’t Woodson’s men make those plays? Why does everything always come down to Joe Johnson, and why, with Iso-Joe rendered inoperative this crucial night, did nobody have a clue? (Unless hoisting a jump shot is having a clue.) This isn’t supposed to be a one-man team, but right now it’s not playing like a team at all.
Said Milwaukee’s splendid Brandon Jennings: “When Joe Johnson went out of the game, I thought we had a chance.”
Nine points up, four minutes left. Four minutes from a 3-2 series lead. Four minutes that will live in infamy on the long list of Atlanta sports collapses. Four minutes that could lead to the dismantling of this roster and perhaps the dismissal of this coach. Four unbelievable minutes.
Really, though, how unbelievable were they? The Hawks blew a fat lead here against Dallas, nearly blew one against Orlando last month. They’re known as the team that can fall to pieces if you keep applying pressure, and on this wretched night they lived down to that sorry reputation. They wasted a lead that should have been safe and are positioned to lose a series that should already have been won.
Technically the Hawks haven’t yet been eliminated. But it sure feels that way.
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414 comments Add your comment
Anthony
April 29th, 2010
4:29 am
Why do the people here act like they deserve better? Face it, Atlanta is nothing but rednecks that like NASCAR and the Bulldogs. You haven’t ever really attended Hawks games so quit acting like you care now. Every team should be pulled from Atlanta because the city of ATL does Not DESERVE a franchise.
WPinAZ
April 29th, 2010
4:31 am
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!! SHOULD HAVE HIRED HIM THE FIRST TIME, INSTEAD OF WOODY.
Walker, Texas Ranger
April 29th, 2010
5:23 am
Blow it up. Biggest collection of gutless, heartless, players ever. Time to start over because this collection of stoneless players will never win. Get rid of Smith, Williams, Bibby & Johnson and start from there. Headline should have been “Biggest collapse in Atlanta ANALS”
ltdbrave
April 29th, 2010
5:30 am
Hawks just plain suck!!!!! All season they loaf in the second half and lose games. Crawford wanted to make it to the playoffs and he gets there and can’t score, Josh Smith doesn’t play like he should, and Bibby is a waste as well as Williams. Also, Joe Johnson could not hit the broad side of a red barn. Finally WOODSON sucks and could not energize a team if he tried. FIRE him!!!!! What a lazy and unmotivated team.
NikkFree
April 29th, 2010
5:32 am
Woody and Joe…get outta here!!! It’s time to get the right personnel in here that can get the job done.
TheAntiMe
April 29th, 2010
5:46 am
Why do the people here act like they deserve better? Face it, Atlanta is nothing but rednecks that like NASCAR and the Bulldogs. You haven’t ever really attended Hawks games so quit acting like you care now. Every team should be pulled from Atlanta because the city of ATL does Not DESERVE a franchise. - Anthony
lol – Maybe if you could take that brat out of your mouth that you’re chewing on, or whatever it is, you could actually not sound so ignorant. It must be distracting your pea-sized brain. Then again, what else should we expect from a Jerry Springer reject such as yourself?
tidog
April 29th, 2010
6:17 am
another 4th qtr meltdown, so what’s really new ?
Sloan
April 29th, 2010
6:26 am
Very late with this post I know as I see we have long since stopped posting about the game and the hawks and are reduced to blather consisting of mostly personal insults aimed at one another, BUT the futility of this Hawks team is beyond frustrating when you look at the talent on the roster. Woodson is one of the leaders by definition and title. Who are the others? Because truly what is happening here is the exposing of a lack of heart. And heart starts with leadership. If the Hawks lose this series to a vastly less talented team, it will be only because the Hawks leadership has failed to inspire some heart-felt play from its superior talent. That is an indictment of Woodson for sure and probably JJ, Bibby, Josh Smith and Horford as well.
St. Bernard
April 29th, 2010
6:48 am
This is the heritage of Billy Knight. He blew up the team way back when and built in a faulty DNA. Woodson as a coach was a mistake. In the past six drafts or so, we’ve failed to find a superstar (with the possible exception of Josh Smith). We missed on numerous point guard opportunities. We paid too much for Joe. We completely wasted money on free agents (Speedy Claxton) and picks (Sheldon is at the top of that list).
Now we’re talking about blowing things up and starting again…..How much does a fan have to endure? I sat through the Bob Sura years, but I won’t do it again.
Humpback Liner
April 29th, 2010
6:53 am
Atlanta sports same old song and dance, just like the falcons collapse in 1980
BUCKS in Seven!
April 29th, 2010
6:54 am
I told everyone the the Hawks have no heart. Trade Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Bibby, and Horford for players that have tenacity and the will to win. Sure they’re great players but they have no will to win. Crawford and ZaZa are the only players that want to win and only one of them has any talent.
Ghost of Dan Roundfield
April 29th, 2010
6:58 am
The Hawks don’t seem to care. Why should we?
MitchC
April 29th, 2010
7:03 am
To the Bucks fan who said that Hawks fans didn’t put his team down after the loss: I’m too much of a sports veteran to put any team down. I know that in a short series, anything can happen.
I’ve been a Braves fan for 27 years, through the championship years, and even now, with the hardships they are having. Honestly, the only two times that I thought teams they lost to in the playoffs, had better teams on “paper”, than the Braves did, were the 1999 World Series against the defending champ Yankees, and the 2001 NLCS against Arizona with Schilling and the Big Unit. All the other times that they went down in the first round, or when they lost to the Yankees in the World Series in 1996, I thought the Braves had the better team on paper. The 1996 World Series should have ended as Braves in five, with the way they blew the Yankees out in the Bronx the first two games. As Bradley pointed out, any fan who has followed baseball the last twenty years knows all about Wohlers pitch. Bobby Cox has said many times, the playoffs is a cr’pshoot.
I believe that any team is capable of winning in the playoffs in a short series. You start 0-0. !00 wins in baseball. 50 plus wins in the NBA. It all means nothing. If such wasnt true, the 69 Mets would never have been champions. The Orioles should have blown them away on paper. It didnt happen. The 1995 Rockets should never have been champions. They had a mediocre regular season. The 2003 Marlins should never have beaten the Yankees, who won 101 games in the regular season that year. On and on..
Back to this series: I dont know if it is that the Hawks arent giving the Buckies (I like that name, Buckies) enough respect. If Milwaukee has stepped up their game, if it’s Woodson, or what. Bottom line,whatever the reason, the Hawks may well go down tomorrow night.
Am I upset the Hawks are going to lose? Of course. Am I surprised? No. So many times playoff series have happened in pro sports, where one team “should” beat the other, and it didnt happen. I’m a believer that once a short series starts, all regular season stats, “Shoulds” Woulds, and Coulds, go out the window. If you get one team, or one player, with a couple of good games, or a good series, that player’s team even if a major underdog, can prevail.
sirluciouscp
April 29th, 2010
7:08 am
MIKE WOODSON IS A MORON. GET EM OUTTA HERE.
NCBravesFan
April 29th, 2010
7:14 am
Well for the “fans” who have spent all year thinking the answer is firing Woody and letting Joe go, you may very well get your wish now.
But just know that the questions that lie ahead are gonna get a lot harder. And there may not be very good answers to any of them (in terms of Ws and Ls).
MitchC
April 29th, 2010
7:17 am
I dont follow hockey, but did anyone happen to see how in the NHL, the top seeded Eastern Conference team, the Washington Capitals, were eliminated by the eighth seed Montreal Candians last night in the seventh game of the first round of the NHL playoffs? I know absolutely nothing about hockey other than goal, or goalie, but its once again proof that when teams get into a short series, in any sports, anything can happen. That shows that its not only the Braves with the fourteen division titles, and one World Series win, or whats happening to the Hawks in this series with Milwaukee. Should, and Could, mean nothing in a short series, people.
Ternt
April 29th, 2010
7:18 am
I will not watch another game that woodson is coaching. Sell the Hawks back to Turner and bring us AVERY JOHNSON.
CHA-DRO
April 29th, 2010
7:21 am
it is time to go back to th drawing board… we dont need joe johnson necessarily…. we have a whole team of streky shooters… nobody is consistent when it counts… everybody is screaming fire woody… well that may need to be done but he cant take the shorts for the guys… he is responsible for how they manage the game i.e. shot selection and how they play the fastbreak… I THINK THAT D WADE MAY FIT IN ATLANTA BETTER THAN ANY WHERE ELSE… we just have to free up some of that big time money that joe johnson has been getting… Imean really he’s been getting nearly MVP money for minute and he isnt even a starter on the eastern all star team
bummed courtside.
April 29th, 2010
7:22 am
I was at the game and you could feel the energy get sucked out of the arena during the last couple of minutes. Josh Smith played poorly down the stretch (the 3 point shot was absurd) and Jamal Crawford, you are not Kobe/Lebron (4 of 18 shooting performance and some really terrible shots….reminds some of us aging hoop maniacs of the Knicks John Starks 3 of 19 performance in during game 7 of the finals against the Rockets many years ago). Marvin & Al played well. Why Bibby wasn’t in during those final minutes vs playing Crawford who was terrible will haunt Woodson if they lose the series. But I still believe Woodson is the right guy and a quality coach.
David
April 29th, 2010
7:26 am
The team doesn’t need blowing up. They just need coaching. Sometimes they can get by on ability, when they NEED coaching, they are in trouble.
Cousy
April 29th, 2010
7:28 am
Agree with Larry at 1135pm. The front office provided the coach personnel that should be able to win. He has done little with it.
skdjf
April 29th, 2010
7:30 am
j. smith – playing like a rookie again. all muscle and no brain
JB
April 29th, 2010
7:31 am
This team is a joke!
They play little to no D.
How do you leave guys that are red hot, wide open? They basically play with no heart.
Again, a joke.
bob
April 29th, 2010
7:31 am
how does this team go 3 games getting fooled on switches and this coach can’t show this team how to adjust?
JOE BROWN YEAH YEAH
April 29th, 2010
7:32 am
I HOPE THE OWNER IS READING THIS PLEZ PLEZ FIRE MIKE WOODEN MAKE US A FAVOR. THE FANS WANT HIM OUT NO PRODUCIION MADE HERE IN ATL GET RID OF HIM TIME TO LET HIM GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Required Reading | Hard Knox Sports
April 29th, 2010
7:33 am
[...] Bradley on the Hawks epic collapse last night [AJC] [...]
The Cynical White Boy
April 29th, 2010
7:35 am
Suits me if the Hawks lose. One less thing to snarl downtown traffic for us working folks.
The NBA sold it’s soul a long time ago to the “hip-hop” “gansta rap” demographic. I really don’t even care whether this city has an NBA franchise or not.
dawgma
April 29th, 2010
7:37 am
Woodson is a loser. What’s funny is now I am guessing no one will hire him away from ATL. What we know for sure is the mgt by committee owners is incapable of making big moves to take this team to the next level.
OH – and they suck as owners of a hockey franchise toooo!
JeJe
April 29th, 2010
7:42 am
There is no desperation at all with this team. Every time we lose, it’s either “They defended their home court” or “It’s a 7 game series)
FIRE WOODY
Charles
April 29th, 2010
7:42 am
Not a fun time to be a sports fan in the ATL- Hawks LOSE to Bucks and Braves LOSING 8 in a row! WE ARE LOSERVILLE!!!
Toni D
April 29th, 2010
7:43 am
Marvin was the leading scorer in the first half and Woody takes him out for 20 minutes. Why wasn’t Teague in to cover Jennings? Second half Marvin was posting up and it was working – next thing you know Woody takes him out for Mo. Terrible. You want Marvin to score more and when he does, he gets benched!
Woody Hater
April 29th, 2010
7:44 am
Did anyone notice the camera shot of the team huddle after the refs were reviewing Al’s three point shot at the end of the game? Woody was talking to himself! No one was paying attention to a word he was saying! I don’t think the players respect this guy. He’s too soft, so they are too soft. Not sure who the commentator was last night, but he was right on when he said that a team takes on the persona of it’s head coach. He was referring to Scott Skiles and the Bucks, but I think it’s even more applicable to our Squawks!
jamie cunningham
April 29th, 2010
7:48 am
this is ridiculous. i’ve been an atl homer for 30 years. and i get let down all the time. woody has got to go. GET US THE CZAR!!!
JJ is a great secondary player to a real superstar. i love his game, but he lacks the vocal leadership and aggressiveness needed in crunch time. can you imagine how good the current team would be with D-WADE running the show? it would be unbelievable.
i don’t like J-SMOOVE jacking up three’s either. but when no one will take a shot, someone has too.
Jon Konkack
April 29th, 2010
7:48 am
Now You Know!
Hawks r done
April 29th, 2010
7:48 am
this is pathetic! 14-0 run to end the game for the bucks! FIRE WOODY! Joe’s not commin’ back he’ll take his money in chicago where he can suck! Hawks suck! Woody especially sucks! Jamal sucks! Joe Sucks!
Mugsy
April 29th, 2010
7:56 am
People need to realize that this was never a team, but instead a collection of players. A team has a point guard and a center, neither of which the hawks have.
TIM
April 29th, 2010
7:57 am
hey guys i feel the same way you do about mike woodson. i want him gone and out of our way.
we need a white coach who will bring class and players without the tatoos and attitudes.
i would love for us to hire jeff vangundy.
LAC
April 29th, 2010
7:59 am
Who cares about pro basket Thug ball ! Watching GRASS grow is far more entertaining !
Send this WORTHLESS team to Billings,Montana, The NOTHING Baskestball team needs to LEAVE Atlanta ASAP !
TIM
April 29th, 2010
7:59 am
mike bibby is a problem too he cant guard anyone. where is jeff teague
sterfri
April 29th, 2010
8:00 am
Josh Smith and Woody aka Mr. Potato Head need to go, when Josh Smith left the game they started winning but when he came back in they started losing. Josh Smith never passes it to the OPEN MAN.
TIM
April 29th, 2010
8:02 am
@LAC I totally agree with you all those thugs out of control on the court. we need quality players with respectable backgrounds. we do not have one white player on the team. if u look at hawks games its nothing but rappers coming to the games. i’m afraid i will be mugged if i attend a game. blacks really know how to take quality out of a situation.
Braves Fan 84
April 29th, 2010
8:04 am
Did you notice the Atlanta Players were more worried about 3-point decision than listening to Woody during the timeout. I dont think players respect Woody. He needs to go. We have talent but the coaches are terrible
Herschel Talker
April 29th, 2010
8:06 am
MB:
To say a first-round exit is worse than the Wohlers pitch blowing a huge World Series lead to the Yankees is completely ludicrous. Enough with the sensationalism.
HT
TIM
April 29th, 2010
8:07 am
he
martin
April 29th, 2010
8:08 am
Stick a fork in the hawks they are done, and while you or at it, do the same to the other birds, when football season begans.
Faith27
April 29th, 2010
8:09 am
Wow. Come on you guys! Be thankful what you have here. I remember when paper bags were the style when attending Hawks games. They are now a national play off team. 13 wins to 53? Now you want to dismantle the team and fire the coach? This team needs support…not your critisms. They want to feel embraced and I am not really feeling the love out there!
It's Time for Woody to Go!
April 29th, 2010
8:09 am
Once again, Josh Smith, the guy we thought had matured over this past year, has shown how immature he really is with that terrible shot near the end. I know that the Hawks’ defense switches a lot, but would yout not change your game plan when you get burned on switches left and right in the last two games. With Joe struggling last night, why would you not feed Marvin the ball more when he was playing the best I’ve seen him play in a while. Sorry to say, but it is obvious that Woody has not done a good job of preparing his team and making the correct in-game changes, and looks like it is time for his exit out of ATL.
Joe
April 29th, 2010
8:10 am
Am I the only one that saw how much better we played when Josh was in the locker room in the 3rd quarter. he is talented in some aspects of the game but he hurts this team more than he helps
Mike Woodson
April 29th, 2010
8:12 am
Hey Andre whatever it is your smoking please send that to me – we could have used it in the locker room after Game 5 but will surely need it after Game 6 and I’m standing in the unemployment line. Do you have some you can also share with Josh?
siskel_god
April 29th, 2010
8:13 am
We’re not firing Woody. Who is better that can be had? Byron Scott? He hot ran out of Jersey and New Orleans and lost in the playoffs with superior teams. Scott Skiles? He did get ran out of Chicago on a rail. Avery Johnson engineered one of the most unexcusable losses in Mavs history to the Warriors. Phil Jackson is not walking through the door folks. Ask yourself this question, how good of a coach is Mike Brown without LeBron? Probably alot worse than Woody. How bout going after some horses like D-Wade, Amare, Bosh, or LeBron and then see how good of a coach Woody is.